Mobile telephones, commonly known as "cellular telephones", have become extremely popular in the past decade. One of the most common uses for mobile telephones is in an automobile, where mobility precludes the use of a hard-wired communications system. The widespread availability and relatively low cost of mobile telephones has all but eliminated the more traditional CB radio as the communications device of choice for automobiles.
One of the disadvantages that this gives rise to, however, is that the user must dedicate one hand to the use of the telephone, which during the operation of an automobile is inconvenient at best, and is often dangerous. So-called "hands free" systems are available to avoid this problem, but these primarily involve speaker and/or microphone extensions which are connected to the telephone and must be mounted within the automobile cabin, the speaker in a position from which it can be heard and the microphone in a position in which it will pick up the driver's voice. As such the microphone will pick up any ambient noise from within the automobile cabin, and the user's privacy is lost if there are other occupants in the automobile. Such systems are also quite expensive, particularly considering that they are merely redundant extensions of features that are already built into the telephone handset.
Holders for telephone handsets generally are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,932 for an Adjustable Phone Handset Shoulder Support and U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,995 for a Portable Cordless Phone Holder both teach handset holders which are adapted to rest on the user's shoulder and support the telephone handset in position for use, ie. adjacent to the user's ear and mouth. However, such holders are relatively cumbersome and bulky, and the use of a shoulder support for supporting the handset can cause muscle strain and fatigue as the user will have a tendency to raise the shoulder or bend the neck to properly position the handset. This to some degree also restricts movement of the user's arm, which is not particularly desirable when the user is driving an automobile. Moreover, in each case the holder is fixed in position on the user's shoulder when in use, and must be completely removed when not in use so as not to unnecessarily obstruct the user's movement or vision while driving.